Forest Fire
by DonaldDouglasandToby6
Summary: Sparks from Charlie's funnel cause a fire in Henry's Forest, and Henry is devastated. Belle and Flynn try to put it out, but it seems impossible.


Henry's Forest is most likely the most well-known forest on the Island of Sodor.

Trees are always beautiful, birds are always singing, and Henry loves it here.

One day, he was sitting on a siding watching Edward pass with the Local.

He was having a wonderful time listening to the animals.

"They're always relaxing," he said to his driver.

"Indeed," agreed the driver, "But we can't stay much longer."

"Just another minute," pleaded Henry.

Charlie puffed in with his morning Dairy Train.

"Hello Henry!" whistled Charlie.

"Hi Charlie!"

Charlie puffed on towards a signalbox.

He had to pull ten milk tankers, and he was slightly struggling.

A few sparks flew from his funnel, but nobody noticed.

There was a patch of dry grass beside the line, and disaster lay ahead.

Just as Charlie left, a flame sprang up.

The high wind spread it to another patch of grass.

The smoke rose high into the air.

Sidney was passing by with a fuel train for the Dieselworks.

He saw the smoke and was confused.

"Driver, we better stop." said Sidney.

The driver agreed.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" asked Henry worriedly.

He then looked ahead and gasped.

"FIRE!" shouted Henry.

The signalman called 999 as Henry escaped the scene.

"How did I get here?" asked Sidney

"Hurry Sidney!" cried Henry and Sidney quickly followed.

At the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre, Belle, Flynn, and Harold were on duty as the alarm suddenly sounded.

"A fire at Henry's Forest has been spotted! Quick, try and put it out!" cried the speaker.

The trio were alarmed.

"Quick, hurry!" cried Belle.

Belle and Flynn raced down the rails while Harold took off into the sky with a tank of water.

They raced down the line as fast as their wheels would let them.

Flynn and Belle were the first to reach the forest, but by then, the smoke was already too high.

"*cough* *cough* Sorry chaps, but I can't help you... *cough* Too much smoke to see anything," coughed Harold and he buzzed away.

Now Belle and Flynn were on their own.

"Come on Flynn, this is the biggest fire we've ever seen! Wouldn't it make sense to just let it burn?" cried Belle in alarm.

"Well, that'd destroy Henry and the wildlife that lives here. Pick one: Environment or destruction." replied Flynn.

Belle was now determined.

"I'd rather save the forest!"

"Good! Now let's try and get the biggest flame first."

Belle and Flynn pointed their water cannons and started spraying the giant flame.

Edward and Henry were watching from a mile away.

"What do we do Edward?" cried Henry, "My forest is going to get ruined!"

"It won't, Henry, and if it does, we'll rebuild again." soothed Edward.

"There's only so many times you can rebuild..." sighed Henry.

"As long as the Fat Controller lets us rebuild, we can."

Henry watched in dismay as Belle and Flynn did their best.

"I don't know how long we can keep on doing this," panted Flynn, "I'm almost out of water!"

"Somebody bring the fire engines some water!" yelled a firefighter.

Edward puffed up.

"Take my water!" he said bravely, "I'll refill at the next station!"

"But Edward!" cried Henry.

"It's alright Henry. I'm doing it for a friend."

Henry gasped as a firefighter put a pipe in Edward's water tank and filled Flynn's tank up.

"Thank you Edward," said Flynn, "You'll always be remembered as a true friend. Now to put out the flames!"

Belle rang her bell and the two fire engines splashed water all over the forest. So far it was only five percent contained.

That night, the Fat Controller and his grandchildren were watching the television in their living room.

"Tomorrow the forest fire at Henry's Forest is going to be still strong and burning trees. So far our brigade is doing our best, but we simply cannot make the flames shrink that much." said the announcer.

Bridget looked to Stephen.

"We go there to see the wildlife," she said worriedly, "What's going to happen now?"

Stephen shrugged and looked to his grandfather.

The Fat Controller sighed sadly and walked out of the room to get a cold glass of milk.

"I don't know," Stephen said finally, "But our grandad isn't too happy."

The next day at Tidmouth Sheds, Henry was puffing out of his shed to look at the blaze again when he heard Donald and Douglas behind him.

"Looking at the flames solves nothing Henry," said Donald, "Ye need to understand that we're doing everything we can."

Henry sighed, "I know, but sometimes everything we can isn't enough. I need to at least see the forest again before it burns down forever..." and he puffed away.

Donald looked to his twin worriedly.

"It doesn't look good, I can tell ye," warned Douglas.

Meanwhile, Belle and Flynn were desperately trying to put out the flames.

It was now 50 percent contained, but it wasn't enough.

"Oh, if only Harold were here." sighed Belle.

"Yeah. He'd be able to put out this fire in a jiffy," agreed Flynn, "But we'll just have to do this with the fire engines."

Suddenly, a buzzing noise was heard and Harold the Helicopter swooshed in and poured water all over the forest.

A great cloud of steam now floated above the trees.

Belle and Flynn were delighted.

"Thanks a ton Harold!" said Belle.

Harold winked and flew away to fetch more water.

By the evening, the fire was put out and the Rescue Team went back to the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre.

"So, how was it?" asked Rocky.

"It was really rough at first. But in the end it became better, especially with Harold helping us," replied Flynn.

"That's good," said Rocky, "Sorry I couldn't help, but I'm just a crane."

"Oh, we understand. We all have different jobs to do." said Flynn.

"You think Henry's alright?" asked Belle.

"Oh, the forest should be fine now." said Flynn, "I think he'll be alright."

At Tidmouth Sheds, Henry was waiting for any news.

"How is it driver?" asked Henry sadly, "Any more bad news?"

The driver grinned

"Nope! The fire's out!"

Henry was amazed.

"Really? They did it?! But..."

"But what?" asked his driver.

"It's just that...all the newborn trees I planted a while back are now dead. What can we do?"

"Henry, trees may burn down, but we can always plant them again. They'll grow strong again, and it'll be back to normal. We'll just have to be more careful waht happens." the driver said.

Henry sighed, still a bit unsure.

A month later, Henry puffed onto a siding in the forest.

"Wow, it's looking a lot better." he grinned.

"Indeed." said Edward, who puffed up alongside.

"The trees look all green again, but... what about the animals?"

"I saw some bunnies at the forest earlier," said Edward, "I think it'll be alright Henry."

Henry was pleased; he knew now that his forest was truly restored.


End file.
